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Yesterday, L’Atelier attended the 2010 Mashable U.S. Summer Tour, an event organized by the social media web site.

There, we met an interesting new start-up named Gotelo. Founded by Ray Kasbarian in 2009, Gotelo is a new way to connect to the pages of people you know with just their phone number. Indeed, it simplifies the way people interact with friends, and could also be useful for business.

By creating a link between a phone number and a web page, Gotelo allows users to control their presence on the internet.

How does it work? First, users have to register on www.gotelo.com by giving their phone number. After that, the website will call this number for a validation process. Then, users can add links to their social network profile from places like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Flickr, YouTube or their blog.

So with this, when you meet a person, you just need to give your phone number. This person will find you on the Internet by typing your number in Gotelo’s browser. As a phone number is something personal and unique, you will be sure to find the right person.

Currently, Gotelo is in beta version. According to Victor Nappe, co-founder of Gotelo, the service will launch next month.

Since now, this connection engine is free because they need to create a huge database, which is key for success. It’s obvious that Gotelo will be useful only if everybody is registered on it. Maybe that’s why the service is already available in more than 30 countries.

According to Nappe, the company is thinking of releasing premium services in the future with additional functionality. Like flavors, it seems that Gotelo has created a new kind of online business card.

cell phone boarding passThis year has been great for European and American travelers with mobile phones, with more airlines testing systems for boarding passes downloaded onto their browser-enabled handsets. Delta joined Continental in allowing domestic travelers to check-in and display their boarding pass on cell phone screens as a two-dimensional barcode. This furthers the trend begun by Air France, KLM and Air Canada, who began testing last year for short- and medium-haul flights. Air France’s system began as a simple check-in process, with an option for the user to receive a text message reminder prior to the flight date, and a confirmation afterwards.

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shopping cartIndian company Infosys is bringing an internet-like experience to brick-and-mortar shopping. The IT and consulting firm launched ShoppingTrip 360, a“360-degree view of the shopping trip,” on July 31st.

Infosys hopes to make retail shopping as smart as internet shopping. Measuring “how” shoppers buy, as opposed to merely “what” they buy.

“ShoppingTrip360 leverages a network of wireless sensor-based applications within the store that allows people (shoppers), places (retailers) and products (CPG companies) to collaborate in real-time by creating an information ecosystem,” explains Girish A Ramachandra, head of innovations practice, retail, CPG and logistics for Infosys.

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airport screeningSeveral newly launched initiatives in the U.S. and other countries aim to allow governments to mine our personal data at border crossings. Legislation in the U.S. and Australia would give governments great freedom to search – and in some cases seize – our personal electronic devices.

U.S. Homeland Security can now seize laptops and other electronic devices taken across the border and hold them for an indefinite period, copying hard drives without need of warrants or probable cause. Officials are authorized to deep-scan hard drives to detect terrorists, drug smugglers, and copyright infringers.

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  • Filed under: International
  • sphere prototypeMicrosoft Tuesday unveiled a prototype computer, Sphere, at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit 2008 in Redmond, Washington.

    Sphere is composed of a large spherical screen atop an infrared projector. The projector projects images onto the screen, while at the same time allowing multi-touch manipulation of the images, so that it can be used by several users at once. Sphere uses a special algorithm to show images without distortion, as they would look on a flat screen.

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    microsoft_powersetSoftware giant Microsoft (MSFT) announced it would purchase the year old company Powerset, a start-up using principals of linguistics in an attempt to make Internet keyword search easier.

    Though cell phones offer an “autotexting” function, one that finishes words begun by the writer, Powerset’s technology goes further.

    It takes a given word, breaking it down based on meaning, with the end of allowing users to type in inexact concepts that would, thesaurus-like, bring up the intended word(s).

    “Powerset has always been a small company with big dreams,” explained company product manager Mark Johnson in a Powerset blog post regarding the deal.

    He continued the post by saying the company has the ambitious “ultimate goal of changing the way humans interact with computers through language.”

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    Chrysler to Make 2009 Models Wireless Hotspots

    uconnectThe Chrysler Corporation will make wireless Internet available as an option in its 2009 models, including most Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler models.

    The Internet-enabled models will come as a dealer-installed option and carry a monthly service fee by September of 2009, according to the company.

    Many say such wireless features will become standard, but Chrysler is the first car maker to make it available.

    The wireless feature will be part of Chrysler’s Uconnect system that enables the driver to access the car stereo through the steering wheel, connect to BlueTooth, and adapt the stereo to control an MP3 player when plugged in.

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    plazes.pngThe ’smartphone’ arms race has just gotten a bit colder. Nokia upped the ante Monday, or at the very least began the catch-up process, by purchasing Plazes, CNBC reported.

    Much like its more established predecessors Twitter and Jaiku, Plazes is a social networking start-up service. But where Twitter and Jaiku provide venues for “micro-blogging,” or character-limited forums by which to inform all friends and contacts also using the service of present activities or thoughts, Plazes focuses, as its name would indicate, on place.

    It grants subscribers access to “location -aware services,” explained CNBC’s article, so users can better prepare for their social activities.

    So buying the service, should make Nokia’s phones more competitive in the Internet-equipped cell phone arena cluttered with BlackBerries, the original iPhone and the upcoming iPhone G3, among others.

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    Nintendo and Others Training the Brain to Retain

    nintendo brainage gameWith the Alzheimer’s Association’s current estimates showing 10 million baby boomers will go through the degenerative disease, many are determined to fight back with brain fitness programs, CNN reported Wednesday.

    Nintendo’s Brain Age is but one of a series of games and puzzles, such as crosswords and sudoku, meant to keep memory loss and signs of dementia at bay.

    Chris Santos is not an old man. He began putting his brain through a series of mental exercises at 25. That was seven years ago, and Santos has since won the 2008 USA Memory Championship, proving he could learn 100 new names, faces and random words in 15 minutes as well as by memorizing the contents and order of a shuffled deck of cards in three.

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    skype.pngLuxemborg-based and eBay-owned Skype launched its newest version, Skype 4.0, on Wednesday with new features and a layout that makes video its primary component and pictures easier to see in cell phone calls.
    The beta version of Skype 4.0 comes with drastic upgrades that aim to take advantage of Web cameras that were previously a scarce commodity. Within the last year, such cameras have come standard on many computers, and independently bought cameras have sold more.

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